It was founded in 1857 by Hungarian Count Agoston Haraszthy, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agoston_Haraszthy) who is considered the father of the California wine industry.
Haraszthy was a very interesting character. Before coming to the U.S. with his family in 1842, he had founded the Hungarian Royal Guard. He was the first Hungarian to permanently settle in the U.S., and he wrote a book about the U.S. in Hungarian.
He started his life in the U.S. by founding a town which is now called Sauk City, Wisconsin. There, he had a farm, operated a ferry across the Wisconsin River, operated a brickyard and mills, etc. When he heard about the discovery of gold in California in 1848, he moved his entire family to California by wagon train via the Santa Fe Trail.
He was elected sheriff of San Diego County. Then he was elected to the California Legislature and came to the capital at Vallejo, not far from Sonoma. He bought land in Sonoma and established Buena Vista Winery. He brought thousands of European grape varietal cuttings from Europe, and planted them at his winery. He introduced more than three hundred varieties of European grapes to the U.S.
Haraszthy was forced out of the winery in 1867 and subsequently declared bankruptcy. He then embarked on a business venture in Nicaragua in 1868. While there, he fell into a river on his property and disappeared.
The winery has gone through a number of ups and downs over the years, including the loss of its underground cellars in the 1906 earthquake.
In 1969, the winery bought land in Carneros, and that is where the working winery is currently located.
In the 1990s, its wines were very ordinary. They have improved a lot in the past decade. In 2010, the winery was in financial difficulty. In the spring of 2011, it was purchased by the Boisset Family Estates, which Wine Spectator characterizes as a major player in Burgundy, the Rhone, and California. With the new addition, Wine Spectator estimated Boisset’s worldwide total annual production in France and the U.S. at 7.5 million cases!
The tasting room is in the vine-covered, historic stone press house, built in 1862. It is situated in a beautiful wooded setting, with some tall redwoods. A few feet from the tasting room is another stone building with huge, old wooden barrels. It is an entrance to underground cellars.
Entrance to the Cellars
Inside the Cellars
There are picnic tables outside and a huge, ornate wooden barrel called the Founder’s Barrel.
I have read in Internet reviews that Buena Vista tasting servers can be very inattentive or can spend lots of time pushing the wine club. However, our experience was very positive.
My wife and I each did a tasting. The cost for us was $10 per person. Our friend’s tasting was free because he was a local resident.
We had four wines each in the following sequence. They ranged in taste from very nice to excellent. The prices listed are the retail price without the substantial club discount:
- 2010 Carneros Rosé of Syrah, very nice - $22
- 2007 Ramal Vineyard Pinot Noir, very nice - $42
- 2007 Ramal Vineyard Pinot Noir, Dijon Clones, excellent - $42
- 2007 Carneros Merlot, excellent - $25
Mule Deer in the Woods next to the Winery
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